Published anonymously in 1848 (though Elizabeth Gaskell's identity was soon discovered, and her literary reputation secured), this first novel from the author of Cranford explores the plight of Manchester's working class, caught in a cycle of desperate poverty and hard labor with little hope of respite. After his wife's death, John Barton takes up the fight for the rights of his fellow workers, though his daughter Mary wishes to make a better life for them both. Working in a dressmaker's shop, the beautiful girl is courted both by hard-working Jem Wilson and mill-owner's son Harry Carson. But when Mary chooses the security Harry offers over her love for Jem, deadly passions are released, and her world begins to unravel.